Faculty
Alex John London
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Director,
Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics &
Political Philosophy
Baker Hall 155D
412.268.4938
Selected Publications
Lectures
Alex John London is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy (CAAEPP) at Carnegie Mellon University. He is an affiliated faculty member of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh and a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health. Before joining Carnegie Mellon in 2000, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota's Center for Bioethics and he received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Virginia.
In 2007 Professor London received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) and in 2005 he was awarded a New Directions Fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to pursue philosophical issues at the intersection of decision theory, philosophy of economics, and research ethics. In 2007 he was commissioned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to write a focus paper on the ethics of conducting human-subjects research in the context of a public health emergency. In 2005 he was commissioned by the Committee on Ethical Considerations for Revisions to DHHS Regulations on Protection of Prisoners Involved in Research of the Institute of Medicine to write a paper delineating an ethical framework for the involvement of prisoners in medical research.
Professor London's research focuses on foundational ethical issues in human-subjects research, issues of social justice in the trans-national context, and on methodological issues in theoretical and applied ethics. He is co-editor of one of the most widely used textbooks in medical ethics and he has been invited to speak in a wide range of venues including Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Duke University Medical School, and Georgetown University. He is curently a member of the Ethics Working Group of the HIV Prevention Trials Network where he serves as liaison to vaginal health protocols. He was a participant in the International Consultation on Ethical Issues in the Clinical Testing of Microbicides, a meeting in Washington D.C. sponsored by the Global Campaign for Microbicides and funded by USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and he was a panelist the conference "Considering Usual Medical Care in Clinical Trial Design: Scientific and Ethical Issues," sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Program on Clinical Research Policy Analysis and Coordination. He was also a member of a national study group to examine the ethics of innovative surgery and he has ongoing interests in ethical isues surrounding innovative surgical practices, including the use of sham surgery controls.
Selected Publications
The PDFs of these papers are intended for personal academic use only and should not be distributed in any way.
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Ethical Issues In Modern Medicine, 7th edition. Bonnie Steinbock, Alex John London, John D. Arras. McGraw Hill, 2008. |
Risk in Clinical Research, Equipoise, and the Integrative Approach
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Reasonable Risks In Clinical Research: A Critique and a Proposal for the Integrative Approach.
Alex John London (2006)
Statistics In Medicine 25:2869-2885. DOI: 10.1002/sim.2634. [PDF of published article from Wiley InterScience] [PDF of unpaginated pre-print] |
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Two Dogmas of Research Ethics and the Integrative Approach to Human-Subjects Research.
Alex John London (2007) Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 32 (2): 99-116. DOI:10.1080/03605310701255727 [PDF] |
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Clinical Equipoise: Foundational Requirement or Fundamental Error? Alex John London (2007) in Bonnie Steinbock (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press: 571-596. [PDF] |
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Equipoise and the Criteria for Reasonable Action.
Evans EL & London AJ. (2006) Journal of Law Medicine and Ethics 34 (2): 441-450. [PDF] |
- The Moral Foundations of Equipoise and Its Role in International Research. Alex John London (2006) The American Journal of Bioethics 6(4):48-50.
[PDF]
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Threats to the Common Good: Biochemical Weapons and Human Subjects Research.
Alex John London (2003).
The Hastings Center Report 33(5): 17-25. [PDF] |
Ethics of International Research
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Responsiveness to Host Community Health Needs. in Ezekiel J.
Emanuel, Christine Grady, Robert Crouch, Reidar Lie, Franklin Miller, and David Wendler eds., The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics. (New York: Oxford University Press) pp. 737-744. [PDF] |
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Justice and the Human Development Approach to International Research.
Alex John London (2005). The Hastings Center Report 35(1): 24-37. [PDF] |
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London AJ. (2001). "Equipoise and International Human-Subjects Research." Bioethics 15(4) 4: 312-332. [PDF] |
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London AJ. (2000). "The Ambiguity and the Exigency: Clarifying 'Standard of Care' Arguments in International Research." Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 25(4): 379-397. [PDF] |
Ethical Issues in Surgery & Surgical Innovation
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London AJ. (2006). "Sham Surgery and Reasonable Risk" in David Benatar ed.
Cutting to the Core: Exploring the Ethics of Contested Surgeries.
New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 211-228. [PDF] |
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London AJ. (2006).“Cutting Surgical Practice at the Joints: Individuating and Assessing Surgical Procedures.” in Angelique M. Rietsma and Jonathan D. Moreno eds., Ethical Guidelines for Innovative Surgery. (Hagerstown, MD: University Publishing Group) 19-52. [PDF] |
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London AJ, Kadane JB. (2002). "Placebos That Harm: Sham Surgery Controls in Clinical Trials."
Statistical Methods in Medical Research 11(5): 413-428. [PDF] (This paper was a finalist for the 2002 Mark S. Ehrenreich Prize in health care ethics.) |
- London AJ, Kadane JB (2003). “Sham Surgery and Genuine Standards of Care:
Can the Two be Reconciled?” The American
Journal of Bioethics 3 (4): 61-64.
[PDF] from Project Muse
- London AJ. (2001). "The Maltese Conjoined Twins: Two Views of Their Separation."
The
Hastings Center Report
31; 1: 48-52.
[PDF]
Methodology and Moral Psychology in Theoretical and Applied Ethics
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London AJ. (2001). "Moral Knowledge and the Acquisition of Virtue
in Aristotle's Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics."
The Review of Metaphysics 54(3): 500-531. [PDF] |
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London AJ. (2001). "The Independence of Practical Ethics." Theoretical
Medicine and Bioethics 22(2): 87-105. [PDF] |
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London AJ. (2000). "Amenable to Reason: Aristotle's Rhetoric and
the Moral Psychology of Practical Ethics." Kennedy
Institute of Ethics Journal 10(4): 287-305. [PDF] |
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London AJ. (1998). "Virtue and Consequences: Hobbes on the
Value of the Moral Virtues." Social
Theory and Practice 24; 1:1-23. [PDF] |
Lectures
Upcoming:
TBA
Recent:
March 24th 2008. “Why and How are Considerations of Justice Relevant to the Conduct of International Medical Research?” Michigan State University.
November 11th 2007. “Uncertainty, Utility, and Ethics in First-in-Human Trials” Workshop on First-In Human Trials in Parkinson’s Disease, McGill University.
October 10, 2007. “From Equipoise to the Integrative Approach” A Conference in Honor of Benjamin Freedman, McGill University.
July 11th 2007. "A Primer on Justice and the Human Development Approach to International Research" University of Maryland Medical Center, the Middle East training program of the Fogarty International Center of the National institutes of Health.
Feb. 20th 2007. “Ensuring that International Research is Responsive to Host Community Health Needs: Clarifying the Requirement” Duke University Medical Center.
Feb 19th 2007. “Reasonable Risk in Clinical Research” Duke University Philosophy Department.
November 7-8th 2006. “Reasonable Risk in Clinical Research” and “The Responsiveness to Host Community Health Needs Requirement” for the training program in Buenos Aires, Argentina of the Fogarty International Center of the National institutes of Health.
August 6th 2006. “Responsiveness to Host Community Health Needs” 8th World Congress of Bioethics, International Association of Bioethics, Beijing, China.
October 27th 2006. “Community Benefits In International Research” the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.
May 23rd 2006. “Lack of Global Access to Care and Therapy: An Ethicist’s View” XXVII International Congress of the World Federation of Hemophilia, Vancouver, Canada.
April 21st 2006.“Reasonable Risk in Clinical Research: The Integrative Approach” The University at Albany, SUNY.
March 27th 2006. “Equipoise Without the Duty of Personal Care” The Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
February 3rd 2006.“Ethical and Methodological Issues in the Transition of Stem Cell Research into Humans: Is There a Conflict Between the ‘Best’ Science and the ‘Best’ Ethics?” Stem Cell Network Workshop on Model Systems & Parkinson’s Disease, Dalhousie University.
December 29th 2005. American Philosophical Association. " Justice in the Belmont Report and the Social Division of Labor."
November 14-15 2005. Panelist "Scientific and Ethical Issues in the Design of Clinical Trials with Usual Care Comparison Arms," sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Policy Analysis and Coordination Program.
October 21st 2005. American Society for Bioethics and Humanities:
The Belmont Report: The 25th Anniversary
1) Tom Beauchamp, Georgetown University
"The Belmont Report: Some Second Thoughts."
2) Ruth Macklin, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
" The Belmont principle of justice: An idea whose time has come."
3) Alex John London, Carnegie Mellon University
" Justice in the Belmont Report and the Social Division of Labor."
4) Jodi Halpern, Berkeley University
" Rrespect for Persons: How emotions influence the ability to consent to research"
5) Franklin G. Miller, National Institutes of Health
" The Ethical Significance of Distinguishing Clinical Research and Medical Care"
Moderator: Rosamond Rhodes, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
August 2nd 2005: “Responsiveness to Host Community Health Needs: Clarifying the Requirement” Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Berman Bioethics Institute.
May 11: 2005 . "Beyond the Impossible and the Vacuous: Defining Ethically Acceptable Tradeoffs in Risks and Benefits in Clinical Research." University of Delaware, Department of Biological Sciences Spring Seminar Series.
February 18th 2005. "Justice and the Human Development Appraoch to International Research." Georgetown University, Kennedy Institute of Ethics.
October 28, 2004. "Is Wide Reflective Equilibrium a Paper Crown on Bioethics Arguments?" 6th Annual American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Meeting, Philadelphia PA.
Oct. 8th, 2004. "Ethical Issues in Stem Cell Research." University of Delaware.
June 8-9, 2004. "Integrating Ethical Perspectives Into Non-Ethics Courses: From Confession, Digression, or Distraction to Method of Analysis." University of Delaware.
March 10, 2004. "Cutting Surgical Practices at the Joints: Individuating and Assessing Surgical Procedures." University of Virginia.
Oct. 23-24, 2003. "Discussing Benefits and Burdens" and "Equipoise and Microbicide Trials." International Consultation on Ethical Issues in the Clinical Testing of Microbicides. Washington, DC.
June 25th, 2003: "Going Beyond Reasonable Availability" and "Responsibility of Researchers to the Community" Harvard School of Public Health.
February 10th, 2003: "Justice and International Medical Research" University of Virginia.
February 11th, 2003: "Cutting the World at the Joints: A Philosophical Analysis of Innovation in Surgery" University of Virginia.
March 10th, 2003: "At the Crossroads of Ethics and Conflict Resolution" Center for Critical Thinking and Philosophical Practice, Bergen Community College, New Jersey.
December 10th, 2002: "Sham Surgery Controls in Clinical Trials" Harvard Medical School.
November 6th, 2002: Moderator for panel discussion of "Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution" at Carnegie Mellon.
November 2001 "What is the Method Debate in Bioethics a Debate About?" Center Colloquium, Center for Bioethics and Health Law, University of Pittsburgh.
October 18th, 2001: "Separating the Maltese Conjoined Twins" Bioethics Grand Rounds, the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, University of Pittsburgh.
October 28th, 2001: Chair of session at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities in Nashville, TN.
November 2nd, 2001: "What is the Method Debate in Bioethics a Debate About?" Center Colloquium, the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, University of Pittsburgh.
November 29th, 2001: "Standard(s) of Care in International Research" MD/PHD seminar, University of Pittsburgh Medical School.
Central APA session on International Research Ethics: Friday, May 4 (9:00-12:00).
Chair: Jeff Kahn, PhD, Director of the Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota
Speaker: Eric M. Meslin, PhD, Executive Director, National Bioethics Advisory Commission.
Title: TBA
Speaker: Alex John London, PhD, Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Title: "Equipoise In International Research"
Speaker: Douglas P. Lackey Baruch College, CUNY.
Title TBA
Central APA Group Session: Society for Bioethics and Classical Philosophy: Saturday, May 5 (12:00 - 2:00).
Chair: Alex London (Carnegie Mellon University)
Speaker: Norman O. Dahl (University of Minnesota)
Title: Phronesis in Bioethics
Speaker: Mark Kuczewski (Stritich School of Medicine, Loyola University of Chicago)
Title: Professionalism in Medicine and Character Ethics